Fight Climate Change with Your Yard: Sustainable Landscaping
50% of your water goes on your lawn
Lawns use as much water as an entire family uses indoors.
With a climate smart yard, you can:
- Save water and money on your water bills.
- Save time with less yard maintenance.
- Pull carbon climate pollution from the air and store it in the soil.
- Cut methane climate pollution by composting food and yard waste.
- Help butterflies, bees, birds, and other pollinators thrive.
Step 1: Free, easy steps to transform a lawn into a mulch planting bed.
Step 2: Install drip irrigation to save 50% to 90% of your water.
California Native Plant Society garden tools:
Leave the leaves for garden mulch to:
- Fertilize the yard.
- Provide habitat for pollinators.
Tree canopies
cool streets 10°f.
improving health.
from the air.
Reflect sunlight
back out of the atmosphere.
Grasscycling leaves mowed clippings on your lawn to fertilize and hold in water.
- Provides nutrients without chemicals.
- Cuts waste.
Garden Gallery
Climate Smart Bunch Grass
Xeriscape Garden
Xeriscape yard: Low water, slow-growing plants and only weed and trim 3 times a year.
Native Plant Garden
You can choose native plants adapted to local rain levels and supporting birds, bees, and butterflies.
Low Water Garden
A habitat garden supports local birds, lizards, butterflies, bees, other insects, and more.
Design Elements
Additional Resources
- Meet the Plants – Bloom! California (bloomcalifornia.org)
- Be Water Wise (bewaterwise.com)
- UCANR – Sustainable Landscaping in California
- Bay-Friendly Landscape Guidelines
- Rescape California
- California Irrigation Management Information System
- Plant Right – Invasive garden plants
- UC Agricultural and Natural Resources County Offices
- UC Statewide Integrated Pest Management Project
- Water Use Classification of Landscape Species
- Calflora – Wild California Plants
- Gardening – California Native Plant Society (cnps.org)
For more information contact: Organic Materials, organics@calrecycle.ca.gov